This is my first visit to the forum. The name is Glenn and I'm a Norwegian movie buff who currently lives in Sweden. I was born in the mid 70s and thus grew up with the movies of the 80s. I have many favourites from that era; Labyrinth, Robocop, Back to the Future, all of Moore's Bond movies, The clan of the cave bear, Aliens, Jackie Chan's Police Stories, Ivanhoe (1982) and others. Genre movies mostly.
Anyway, I managed to interview Helen Slater on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of her Supergirl movie (1984 -> 09). It may not be one of the best 80s movies, but it's an early superhero movie with a female lead, so it may prove to be important anyway.
The reason Supergirl didn't work was purely and simply... the script. There was just too much that didn't make sense, too many things they referenced that shouldn't have been there, and too many things that needed explaining went by without an explanation.
The production values were great, as was the cast. Mr Szwarc Directed just fine. But none of that matters when the story is a jumbled mess. It also didn't help the movie that Chris Reeve was originally supposed to appear and then backed out at the last minute, which meant the script changed and some things that were left in no longer made any sense. Add to that the fact that it followed 'Superman 3', which was a critical disaster and a box-office disappointment and you have a recipe for failure.
Still loved it as a kid, though. Always preferred Helen as a brunette! (Within the film)
Posts: 3383 | From: England | Registered: May 2003 | Site Updates: 21
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The script, the story.... yes, but IMO it's one of the duties of the director to make sure the script is good and that it is translated well into a good story in the final version. Producer and studio meddling aside, the director is ultimately responsible for the cast, the effects, the story, everything. If nothing else, the director sets a bar and nothing goes below it.
I think perhaps Supergirl was too much of a "family" project to be steered in a better direction.
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Kash
Kash : Aha! He'll save every one of us...
Member # 297
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Welcome Glennster, great interview btw, Helen Slater comes across as a nice, down to Earth person.
Supergirl is one of those bad movies we all love to hate; nothing works: the script, the effects, the directing, the narrative momentum, just a complete disaster from start to finish. But when its on and you happen to be in the room; its an arresting work of unbelievable folly. You watch dumbfounded by Faye Dunnaway's silent movie era expressions and brilliant overacting, Peter O' Toole in heavy eyeshadow & the cue card naturalism of Hart Bochner (redeemed somewhat in Die Hard).
It could've been quite good, but the fact that its so bad-its-good, makes Supergirl a memorable experience unto itself. I wonder, in another 10 years or so, will we consider re-appraising the likes of Barb Wire or Batman & Robin? I doubt it.
Posts: 2041 | From: The Ice Planet Hoth | Registered: Jul 2001 | Site Updates: 0
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Hi Kash, I agree that Supergirl has things going for it. It definitely is good in a bad way, or bad in a good way. But it really tried to be good in a good way and ended up as a mess.
Alot of fans are talking about a remake now, or reboot, and throwing the names of young blonde starlets around. What they dont seem to care about is what the story should be. They just want to see Elisha Dushku in a skirt, LOL!
Posts: 5 | From: Sweden | Registered: Jul 2009 | Site Updates: 1
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quote:The script, the story.... yes, but IMO it's one of the duties of the director to make sure the script is good and that it is translated well into a good story in the final version. Producer and studio meddling aside, the director is ultimately responsible for the cast, the effects, the story, everything. If nothing else, the director sets a bar and nothing goes below it.
I think perhaps Supergirl was too much of a "family" project to be steered in a better direction.
I agree that the responsibility lies with the Director. I didn't want to rag on Szwarc too much though. I think Directing a movie for the Salkind's gives a Director less power than in normal circumstances, with that and the last minute changes I imagine Jeannot just went with the flow. Sort of a Director for hire. I also felt that he didn't offer enough reasons in his commentary for so many things that didn't make sense. I've always blamed him for the film being a mess, but in recent years I've come to think that he really didn't understand the script, so he concentrated on getting what he wanted from each scene, and let the Salkind's worry about what they wanted from the script.
What Supergirl really needed (and deserved for the money and cast they had) was Richard Donner. What we have is an imperfect film with some great moments. Taken in bite-sized chunks it's great. Taken as a whole it makes very little sense.
[ 08. July 2009, 09:19: Message edited by: logan5 ]
Posts: 3383 | From: England | Registered: May 2003 | Site Updates: 21
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